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"The Missing Link to Reducing Workers’ Comp Costs" Part 2

In the second of a series, Fred Miller, a former insurance agent who now works for the Montana Dept. of Labor & Industry, writes about the direct link between safer workplaces and lower workers’ comp rates.

What was he thinking?

The middle-aged mechanic had tried to lift a 225-pound axle a few inches off the ground to scoot it closer to the passenger car needing a new transmission.

However, the physics of leverage kicked in and multiplied the axle weight by a factor of six. So the 225-pound axle felt like 1,350 lbs on his back.

His back couldn’t handle the weight. He ended up out of work for months with a critical injury that will trouble him for years. And the injury cost thousands in increased worker’s comp premium.

The worst of it is this: the injury could have been prevented if the company’s prevailing safety attitude was other than: "Accidents just happen. Can’t do anything about it."

Any number of things could have been done differently to avoid that incident: the worker could have asked another employee to help lift; could have used or a mechanical lift; or could have placed a dolly on which to roll the axle.
If this business had a "safety is job #1 attitude," the injury could have been prevented. If the business had been using the basic principles of risk management, and had shared those principles in its workplace, the injury need not have happened.

That’s because there is a direct correlation between utilizing risk management and creating a safer, cleaner, more productive workplace.

Insurance companies know this. That’s why they employ loss prevention (or risk management) professionals who work with customers to create safer workplaces.

Most large businesses know this, because the economics of safety are magnified the larger your business becomes.
The theory of risk management is simple: indentify the workplace hazards likely to cause illness or injury. Then take measures to reduce them, control them or eliminate them. The first step is toughest: deciding to take action to make a safer working environment.

Safety should be managed like any other organization function, with managers setting goals, then planning, organizing, leading others to achieve them.

The Montana Safety & Health Bureau (at the Dept. of Labor) exists to help all businesses create a safety culture in their workplace. Other resources would also be your workers’ comp insurance company’s loss prevention department, or your local insurance agency.

The point is well taken: most all workplace injuries can be prevented if people stop and think about what they are about to do.

The sign posted on white paper throughout a Lewistown business says it well:

-) Safety is Job #1.

-) Quality is Job #2.

-) Production is Job #3.

The business owner knows that if he makes safety Job #1, quality and production will follow. Another way of looking at it: Safety is simply doing the job right, the first time.
(Fred Miller offers money-saving safety tips in a 45-minute presentation titled, "The Missing Link to Reducing Work Comp Costs." He shares this with service clubs, civic groups or others interested in how safety helps produce a strong bottom line.

He can be reached at 406-781-4499, or e-mail [email protected]. To contact the Montana Safety & Health Bureau’s free consultation program, call 444-6401, or click here. http://www.montanasafety.com/ )

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